Thursday, January 5, 2017

Cisco Wireless Access Point Compliance Tool

The access point (AP) is a major player in the wireless LAN network infrastructure. Access points are available in three types, autonomous, lightweight, and mesh. Autonomous access points are self-contained units and can function as independent network infrastructure devices. Lightweight access points function as part of the wireless LAN controller/switch. Mesh access points connect together to form a self-healing intelligent network. Both lightweight and mesh access points will be discussed layer in this chapter. The AP provides computers and other wireless devices access to the local area network using RF as the connection medium.
When a wireless device is connected to an access point, it is said to be in infrastructure mode. In this operation mode, all wireless data traffic is passed through the access point. An access point can operate as a standalone network device. It can also operate as part of a larger wireless network by sharing some of the same configurations, such as Service Set Identifier (SSID). The SSID is the name or identifier all devices connected to the access point will share.

Access points are half-duplex devices. Half-duplex in computer terminology is defined as two-way communication that occurs in only one direction at a time. (By contrast, full duplex allows for two-way communication to occur between devices simultaneously.) Communication only one-way at a time means less data throughput for the connected device. An access point is a network infrastructure device that connects to a distribution system (DS) - typically an Ethernet segment or Ethernet cable - and allows users from a wireless communication perspective to access network resources. According to the IEEE 802.11 standards, access points are considered stations (abbreviated STA). Full duplex is another communication method used in computer networking. In a completely Ethernet-switched network, devices will communicate directly with the Ethernet switch.


I was searching for the regulatory domain of an AIR-AP1852-E-K9 if it's allowed to operate in Thailand. There's a Cisco wireless compliance tool that lists all supported AP models and its regulatory domain. The result I got is that most of the APs would need an importer approval prior shipping to the said model in Thailand: "Importer must obtain approvals."


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